Trying to argue about ACCEPT’s influence on Heavy Metal music in general is like trying to find a pile of beers in a monastery, to say the least. So let’s just focus on the last 4-5 years of the band’s career: yes, the years that led to the reformation of the band with Mark Tornillo (ex-TT QUICK) behind the mic. Two albums were so far the result of this collaboration and the upshot was awesome by all means. Sharp riffs, screaming vocals, major melodies and some really inspired s

Trying to argue about ACCEPT’s influence on Heavy Metal music in general is like trying to find a pile of beers in a monastery, to say the least. So let’s just focus on the last 4-5 years of the band’s career: yes, the years that led to the reformation of the band with Mark Tornillo (ex-TT QUICK) behind the mic. Two albums were so far the result of this collaboration and the upshot was awesome by all means. Sharp riffs, screaming vocals, major melodies and some really inspired songwriting/craftsmanship led to two albums of stellar acceptance and the verdict was clear: ACCEPT is here to stay and get our balls to the wall, babes!

“Blind Rage” is no exception to the rule. From the angry cover artwork to the songs themselves inside, the result is as desired by the classic Metal fan. The music is 100% Heavy Metal and the production – by Andy Sneap again – does justice to the amplitude and volume needed for all the numbers to take shape and torment you like a typhoon. There’s no need to mention any special track here since all of them have their special meaning and position in the tracklist. There are fast songs, mid-pace bangers and more atmospheric cuts here and they all built an album that’s coherent and intact/integrated. The vocals of Tornillo are mature and experienced but do not imagine he does not scream in awe when challenged. The riffs and leads are blazing again, ’nuff said. The bass is pounding and the drums are relentless and overall the instrumentation is nothing you should worry about…

There’s no need to exaggerate more on “Blind Rage” to justify the grade below. This is the third album in a row after their reformation where ACCEPT (as a band/brand) showcase their special charisma in a creating Heavy Metal music from the heart that stays ageless and timeless. If “Blood Of The Nations” and “Stalingrad” were a nice treat for your ears, then you should definitely invest on this new offering by these German legends.

The new ACCEPT Album Blind Rage is making big waves! Media all over the world have the same opinion….“Blind Rage“ is a musical diamond, the top candidate of metal album of the year, a milestone! Order your copy of Blind Rage.

Check the quotes.

“Metal-Anthems for all eternity”
ROCK HARD (GER), Holger Startmann

“BLIND RAGE – a musical diamond, made of the carbon ur-ACCEPT provided and sharpened by the compositional ingenuity of their resurrection – melodic force on the highest level.”
ROCK IT (GER), Hartl Gril

“The best album with US-fronter Mark Tornillio – and an album that fulfils all hymns of praise to 100%: “An album that’s highly addictive!”, “The album of the year”, “A classic already!”, “A must-have for every True-Metal headbanger” How do they do that?”
ROCK IT! + PIRANHA (GER), Andreas Schoewe

“A timeless, classic master piece of Heavy Metal, that’ll last for many years. BLIND RAGE is a real candidate for ‘Metal-Album of the Year’.”
BREAKOUT (GER), Juergen Lugerth

“Next to the upcoming release from PRIEST the most wanted Metal-Opus of 2014, that not only delivers what was promised, but tries to beat its own standards set in the bands seconds spring – and it’s still going strong. Face to face with “Stalingrad” the Grand Masters of Teutonic-Steel deliver an even higher number of memorable refrains, without waiving any of their trademarks. I’d take any bet that we will hear a lot more of “Blind Rage” in the festival summers to come. Thank you, and I’m looking forward to the next ‘200 years’.”
PLANET MUSIC (AT), Walter Scheurer

“The best guitar riffs unite the best vocal lines! It is already one of the best pure heavy metal albums of all time!”
ROADIE CREW (BRA), Claudio Vicentin

“Third time is the charm! Accept fires on all cylinders with “Blind Rage”, the band’s most cohesive release in decades, and the stamp “most successful comeback in Metal” changes to “most reliable pioneers in Metal”. May Accept’s breed of Metal never die!”
SCREAM (NO), Frode Johnsrud

“Accept’s latest attack comes with red rage and rough, catchy riffs. Strong and balanced new album charges upon you like a bull.”
SUE (FIN), Jussi Lahtonen

Claudio Aguilera – Best Accept concert I’ve seen in my life. Both guitars sounding Amazing. Tornillo’s voice is Superb.

Mike McQuerter – It’s obvious you guys are not just going through the motions to earn a paycheck. The band sounds like a freight train crashing through a wall. The music is the tight and sounds dead on. I dare to say Accept is at a level it’s never been before and this is a good thing. Listening and watching Accept live really pumps you up and makes you feel alive. Well done guys.

Here’s an equation for you: what does AC/DC + Judas Priest equal? Well, in this instance it equals Accept who have always blended the no nonsense, gravelly throated hard rock of AC/DC with Wolf Hoffman’s ferocious Priest-like shredding ability to create melodically powerful heavy metal songs.

Built around the song writing nucleus of Hoffmann (guitars) and bassist Peter Baltes, Accept’s beginnings can be traced back to the late 1970’s. The German band played a pivotal role in the development of speed and thrash metal, which emerged in the early to mid-1980’s and along with the likes of Iron Maiden, Accept has delivered an undeniable impact on the global metal scene. The group has penned an innovative and pioneering body of work and some of the most influential metal albums of all time, including Restless and Wild (1982; which included ‘Fast as a Shark’, the first speed metal song ever put to tape, Balls to the Wall (1984; the iconic title track is still the group’s most well known song to date and has become a worldwide metal anthem) and Metal Heart (1985). The band’s two previous albums – Blood of the Nations (2010) and Stalingrad (2012) have charted internationally, topping both critic and fan polls in the process.

It’s fair to say that Accept were one of only a handful of metal bands which had the ability to make me feel genuinely sad when they disbanded in 1997. So, when they got back together in 2009 with Mark Tornillo on vocals, replacing the mighty metal midget Udo Dirkschneider, I was initially sceptical. However, the aforementioned Blood of the Nations was a cracking album and my initial worries of this being a Blaze Bayley or a Ripper Owens sort of situation turned out to be unfounded.

Blind Rage, the influential group’s 14th studio album, was produced by renowned audio engineer Andy Sneap (Megadeth BLAZE, Exodus, Testament Napalm Death and Opeth). Andy really understands what an Accept album should sound like and works hard to make it thunderous and mighty.

The first single from Blind Rage, ‘Stampede’, precedes the full-length album. Filmed on location in the high desert of California at the Devil’s Punchbowl (a rock formation that looks like it’s from another world) with director Greg Aronowitz (Batman & Robin, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Lost World: Jurassic Park), it just screams THIS IS THE HEAVY METAL, BUY ME!

Each track has something to offer: ‘Stampede’ blends in power metal, ‘Dying Breed’ is anthemic and has some nicely planned old-school riffs (see if you can hear the nod to a well known Motörhead song), ‘Dark Side of My Heart’ reminded me of the tracks from the classic Metal Heart, while the more considered ‘Fall of the Empire’ sees Wolf Hoffmann and Herman Frank add some surprisingly deep and relatively poignant solos. ‘Trail of Tears’ follows and this is a more upbeat track which blasts along nicely. ‘Wanna Be Free’ kicks off with an acoustic introduction before bludgeoning the listener into submission: I guess this is an Accept version of a ballad with its resonating bass and mid-tempo structure. ‘200 years’ and ‘Bloodbath Mastermind’ again sees a more power metal influences being woven into the fabric of the songs and the final couple of tracks, ‘From the Ashes We Rise’ and ‘Final Journey’ could have quite easily come from their masterpiece Balls to the Wall.

So in summary, Blind Rage lived up to my high expectations and is a damn good heavy metal album. If you call yourself a heavy metal fan then you really don’t have any excuse at all for not listening to this. It’s another strong release from a rejuvenated Accept. Existing fans should be pleased with what they hear and new fans should welcome the fact that they have been given the chance to enjoy one of the best metal bands ever, one more time.

Accept will release their new album Blind Rage on August 19 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Today ACCEPT release the third online trailer, featuring guitar player Wolf Hoffmann, talking about different topics of their forthcoming new album »Blind Rage«, which will be out on August 15th via Nuclear Blast.

Heavy Metal pioneers ACCEPT just played in incredibly successful show at Wacken Open Air 2014 last week. In case you missed ACCEPT at the annual festival madness, their full show will be airing on the German TV stations 3Sat and ZDF Kultur at the following dates: